The present invention is directed to a pool skimmer utilizing a screen or perforated material for skimming floating debris from the surface of a body of water, such as a swimming pool.
A maintenance chore of swimming pool owners is periodically skimming floating debris from the surface of their pool. Most objects of debris that find their way into a swimming pool are generally airborne and, being less dense than water, typically float on a top surface of the pool water, as they primarily comprise leaves, sticks, grass clippings, and other bits of paper, trash, or other organic material.
Skimming operations have conventionally been performed with a scoop-type skimmer which has an elongate handle at one end and a screened pocket supported by a frame at an opposite end. Floating debris is skimmed from random areas of the surface of the pool by manually dipping the pool skimmer into the water and lifting out debris which becomes trapped in the screening. This manual process can be time-consuming, is not efficient for removing all debris, and requires frequent removal of debris from the screen pocket so that the caught debris is not re-introduced to the pool.
Other forms of skimmers include more substantial apparatus permanently mounted on the side walls or decks of pools that extend into the pool and are present within the pool. Such apparatus remains in the pool even when skimming operations are not being performed. Thus, there is a risk with respect to injury of swimmers and/or damage of the apparatus and the apparatus is typically mechanical in nature and not necessarily aesthetically pleasing.